Sunday Gospel April 13 2014

In this week's edition of There's More in the Gospel than Meets the Eye, Jill
Bevilacqua and Seàn-Patrick Lovett bring us readings and reflections for Palm Sunday.Listen:GospelMt
27:11-54Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him,“Are
you the king of the Jews?”Jesus said, “You say so.”And when he was accused
by the chief priests and elders,he made no answer.Then Pilate said to him,
“Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?”But he did
not answer him one word,so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now on
the occasion of the feastthe governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one
prisoner whom they wished.And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called
Barabbas.So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you
want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?”For he knew that
it was out of envythat they had handed him over.While he was still seated
on the bench,his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous
man.I suffered much in a dream today because of him.”The chief priests and
the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.The
governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to
you?”They answered, “Barabbas!”Pilate said to them,“Then what shall I
do with Jesus called Christ?”They all said,“Let him be crucified!”But
he said,“Why? What evil has he done?”They only shouted the louder,“Let
him be crucified!”When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that
a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight
of the crowd,saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.Look to it yourselves.”And
the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.”Then
he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged,he handed him
over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the
praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him.They stripped off his
clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.Weaving a crown out of
thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand.And kneeling
before him, they mocked him, saying,“Hail, King of the Jews!”They spat upon
him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head.And when they had
mocked him,they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes,and
led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named
Simon; this man they pressed into serviceto carry his cross.

And when
they came to a place called Golgotha — which means Place of the Skull —, they
gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.But when he had tasted it, he refused
to drink.After they had crucified him,they divided his garments by casting
lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there.And they placed over
his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.Two
revolutionaries were crucified with him,one on his right and the other on his
left.Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,“You who
would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,save yourself, if you are
the Son of God, and come down from the cross!”Likewise the chief priests with
the scribes and elders mocked him and said,“He saved others; he cannot save himself.So
he is the king of Israel!Let him come down from the cross now,and we will
believe in him.He trusted in God;let him deliver him now if he wants him.For
he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”The revolutionaries who were crucified with himalso
kept abusing him in the same way.

From noon onward, darkness came over the
whole land until three in the afternoon.And about three o’clock Jesus cried
out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”which means, “My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?”Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This
one is calling for Elijah.”Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he
soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink.But the
rest said,‘Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.”But Jesus cried out
again in a loud voice,and gave up his spirit.

Here all kneel and pause
for a short time.

And behold, the veil of the sanctuarywas torn in two
from top to bottom.The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and
the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.And coming forth from
their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to
many.The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesusfeared
greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said,“Truly,
this was the Son of God!”